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Europe and China agree to use same patent classification system (CPC)

4 June 2013

EPO and SIPO sign a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance cooperation in patent classification

The EPO and the State Intellectual
Property Office of the P.R.C. (SIPO) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to enhance their cooperation in the area of patent classification. Under the terms of the MoU, as of January 2014, the SIPO will start classifying its
newly published invention patent applications in some selected technical fields
into the CPC after receiving dedicated training from the EPO, and will strive
to classify its new invention patent applications according to the CPC in
all technical areas from January 2016. The corresponding classification data will be
shared with the EPO. The CPC is the most refined classification system for
patent documents in the world (250 000 subdivisions) which entered into force
at the EPO and at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 1
January 2013. It is largely based on the European Classification (ECLA) system formerly
used at the EPO.

"With the SIPO introducing the CPC as its internal
classification scheme alongside the International Patent Classification (IPC),
access to Chinese patent documentation will be dramatically improved. Using
classification symbols supports our endeavour to overcome the remaining language
barriers," said EPO President Benoît
Battistelli. "It is a fantastic
accomplishment in terms of harmonisation of our patent systems and the
recognition of the CPC as a global system which can be used by many patent
offices around the world."

"The introduction of the CPC at
SIPO to classify Chinese patent documents is another significant achievement to
promote the bilateral cooperation between the two offices. The number of
Chinese invention patent applications ranked first in the world
consecutively in 2011 and 2012. Furthermore, in July 2012, Chinese
patent documents were formally included into the PCT Minimum Documentation.
Classifying Chinese patent documents into the CPC will undoubtedly improve the
search efficiency of these documents by the examiners of various patent offices
worldwide, and help these documents better serve global users as
well," said SIPO Commissioner Tian Lipu.

The CPC
is already used by more than 45 patent offices worldwide as a means to perform
efficient prior art searches during the patent granting process. The ability to retrieve relevant documents published by the
SIPO will be greatly enhanced in the future.